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Hamilton fastest for Mercedes as testing ends

2 March 2014 – Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the standard as pre-season testing reached its conclusion at the Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday, but Williams's Felipe Massa topped the combined Sakhir list.

On a day littered with red flag periods, which ultimately led to the session being extended by 25 minutes, Hamilton posted a best time of 1:33.278, just two hundredths shy of Massa's overall benchmark from Saturday.

Hamilton did well to recover from a massive morning delay, brought on by a gearbox issue. Having been restricted to just five laps before lunch, he went on to complete more than a race distance in the afternoon.

Valtteri Bottas, who was poised to keep Williams at the top of the timesheets before Hamilton's pace-setting run, wound up second fastest. Despite a late stoppage, due to the failure of a well-used engine component, he led the mileage charts on 108 laps.

It was not such a positive day for Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull team continued to struggle. Shortly after hitting the 40-lap mark, a suspected brake failure sent the German sliding into the Turn 1 gravel trap.

Following lengthy repairs, Vettel was able to get back out on-track and bring his overall tally up to a respectable 77, but he ended the final test day in ninth position, more than four seconds adrift of pace-setter Hamilton.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso took third behind Hamilton and Bottas. The Spaniard delivered the team's quickest time of the Bahrain tests after his F14 T ground to a halt and caused one of the day's eight stoppages.

Nico Hülkenberg's running came to a slightly premature end when an engine issue struck his Force India late in the afternoon. He ended the day in fourth position, just ahead of Toro Rosso's Jean-Éric Vergne.

Sauber drivers Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutiérrez, sharing the C33 after Sutil's lack of running on Saturday, gave the outfit a collective total of 177 laps, effectively making up for the mileage that had been lost.

Marussia's Max Chilton split the pair, recovering from electrical issues that arose in the morning session.

To a greater extent than Hülkenberg, Romain Grosjean and Jenson Button were also hindered by power unit troubles, while Caterham's Kamui Kobayashi missed out on the final hour of track time due to a clutch issue.

The opening round of the 2014 Formula 1 season takes place in Australia from March 14-16

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